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1957 saw the continued growth of bigger taller tail fins on new cars and more lights bigger with more powerful engines and an average car sold for $2,749. The Soviet Union launched the first space satellite Sputnik 1. Movies included "Twelve Angry Men" and "The Bridge Over the River Kwai", and TV showed "Perry Mason" and "Maverick" for the first time. The music continued to be Rock and Roll with artists like "Little Richard". The popular toys were Slinkys and Hula Hoops. The continued growth of the use of credit was shown by the fact that 2/3 of all new cars were bought on credit. Some of the areas that would cause problems later were starting to show South Vietnam is attacked by Viet Cong Guerrillas and Troops are sent to Arkansas to enforce anti segregation laws





Cost of Living 1957

How Much things cost in 1957
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 3.34%
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 3.3%
Average Cost of new house $12,220.00
Average Monthly Rent $90.00
Average Yearly Wages $4.550.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 24 cents
Bacon per pound 60 cents
Eggs per dozen28 cents
HI FI Portable Record Player $79.95
Childrens Shoes $5.95
Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Stirling

Average House Price 2,330
Average Wages 600




What Events Happened in 1957

  • South Vietnam attacked by Viet Cong Guerrillas


  • Treaty of Rome ( The EEC European Economic Community is formed )


  • The Word Beatnik take hold as words to describe the " Beat Generation "


  • USSR launches Sputnik 1 inaugurating the Space Age and Race


  • Martin Luther King Jr heads nationwide resistance to racial segregation and discrimination in the US


  • Toyota starts selling cars in the US the first is the Toyopet Crown


  • Windscale nuclear power plant accident in UK


  • Federal Troops sent to Arkansas to enforce anti segregation laws


  • Anthony Eden resigns due to his handling of the Suez Crisis - Harold Macmillan becomes the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom


  • Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal


  • Singapore gains Self Rule


  • Portable Radar Devices Used To Enforce Speed Limits


  • Tidal Wave follows Hurricane Audrey into coasts of Texas and Louisiana


  • Foot and Mouth in England Reaches epidemic proportions with 30,000 animals slaughtered


  • 1957 was the peak of the Baby Boomeryears


  • The House for Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) convicts a number of writers and playwrites for Un-American Activities / Communist party membership


  • Physician Francois Duvalier PAPA DOCbecomes president of Haiti


  • Ghana Gains Independence From Great Britain






Popular Culture

  • Elvis Presley purchases a mansion in Memphis, Tennessee and calls it Graceland
  • The Cavern Club opens in Liverpool ( Where the Beetle's started )
  • The Film Jailhouse Rock with Elvis Presley
  • "American Bandstand" the teenagers chart music show makes its network debut on ABC

    • Popular Films

    • The Ten Commandments
    • Around the World in Eighty Days
    • 12 Angry men
    • Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley
    • The Bridge on the River Kwai
    • The Three Faces of Eve

    Popular Books

    • The Cat in the Hat - Dr. Seuss
    • From Russia with Love - Ian Fleming
    • The Guns of Navarone - Alistair MacLean




    Technology 1957

    • Ultrasound scanning pioneered in Scotland


    • First Nuclear Reactor plant opens for production of electricity in Pennsylvania US


    • The Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth.


    • Soviets test H Bomb


    • Great Britain tests first hydrogen bomb on the Christmas Island


    • The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter space - a dog named Laika.


      • Inventions Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )
      Satellite Russia Sputnik I